Fed up with flood of unnecessary warnings

A friend in Marton is fed up with unnecessary automatic flood warning phone calls.
By The Newsroom
Published 5th May 2012, 14:40 BST

Their website, your newspaper and the situation on the ground all showed there was little risk this morning [Monday]. (In fact, their website last changed its flood status for Marton on March 9 2010.)

The peak level we saw was about one metre below a flood level for her house so much more water would be needed to cause a problem. So what is the source of the automatic call, which came after midnight, five hours after the last rain had fallen, with no more rain forecast till tomorrow? I have no idea.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Not only does this cause unnecessary fear, upset and sleepless nights, but we no longer have any faith in the system. It’s just like the boy who cried “wolf”. I am fairly sure the warnings weren’t at such low water levels when the scheme was introduced after the 1998 floods (when she was flooded) so I’m wondering if and why the algorithm has changed. - David Cornish, via email.